Fish transporting and positioning apparatus



Jan. 23, 1968 E. E. HARTL ETAL 3,364,514

FISH TRANSPORTING AND POSITIONING APPARATUS Original Filed Jan. 18, 1965 13 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

INYENTORS E R NST, E. HARTL a cl Jan. 23, 1968 E. E, HARTL ETAL 3,364,514

FISH TRANSPORTING AND POSITIONING APPARATUS Original Filed Jan. 18, 1965 13 Sheets-Sheet 2 OPENING OF ARMS FILET RELEASE SUCTION FIG. 2

FILETING CLEANING BEHEADING TRANSPORTING RECEIVING OF FISH I II III E CYCLE FOR ONE FISH TIME-*- INYENTORS E RNST E. HARTL ef 0| Jan. 23, 1968 E. E. HARTL ETAL 3,364,514

FISH TRANSPORTING AND POSITIONING APPARATUS Original Filed Jan. 18, 1965 13 Sheets-Sheet 5 INYENTORS r EQMST. E. HARTL et 0| FIG. 4

Jan. 23, 1968 E. E. HARTL ETAL 3,364,514

FISH TRANSPORTING AND POSITIONING APPARATUS Original Filed Jan. 18, 1965 15 Sheets-Sheet 4 3 S2 vLl...

INVENTORS ERNST- E. HARTL er a! Jan. 23, 1968 E. E. HARTL ETAL 3,364,514

FISH TRANSPORTING AND POSITIONING APPARATUS Original F'iled Jan. 18, 1965 13 Sheets-Sheet 53 FIG. 8

mwsmons ERNSTLHARTL et ul Jan. 23, 1968 3,364,514

FISH TRANSPORTING AND POSITIONING APPARATUS E. E. HARTL ETAL 13 Sheets-5heet 6 Original Filed Jan. 18, 1965 wm m9 hm Q1 v III! mymoRs ERNSTLHARTL et ul Jan. 23, 1968 E. E. HARTL ETAL. 3,364,514

FISH TRANSPORTINO AND POSITIONING APPARATUS Original Filed Jan. 18, 1965 13 SheetsSheet 7 FIG. l2

mvgNToRs mm E HAR'ITL efol Jan. 23, 1968 E. E. HARTL ETAL 3,364,514

FISH TRANSPORTING AND POSITIONING APPARATUS Original Filed Jan. 18, 1965 15 Sheets-Sheet 8 FIG. l3

INVENTORS ERNST. [I HARTL et cl Jan. 23, 1968 E. E. HARTL ETAL FISH TRANSPORTING AND POSITIONING APPARATUS Original Filed Jan. 18, 1965 FIG. 14

l3 Sheets-Sheet 9 INYENTORS ERNST E HARTL e? ol Jan. 23, 1968 E. E. HARTL ETAL 3,364,514

FISH TRANSPORTING AND POSITIONING APPARATUS Original Filed Jan. 18, 1965 13 Sheets-Sheet 10 FIG. 17

, INVENTORS ER N ST. E. HARTL e1 0| Jan. 23, 1968 E. E. HARTL ETAL 3,364,514

FISH TRANSPORTING AND POSITIONING APPARATUS Original Filed Jan. 18, 1965 13 Sheets-Sheet 11 Jan. 23, 1968 E. E. HARTL ETAL 3,364,514

FISH TRANSPORTING AND POSITIONING APPARATUS l3 Sheets-Sheet 12 Original Filed Jan. 18, 1965 Jan. 23, 1968 3,364,514

FISH TRANSPORTING AND POSITIONING APPARATUS E. E. HARTL ETAL Original Filed Jan. 18, 1965 l 13 Sheets-Sheet 15 INYENTORS EPN ST E HARTL e? 0| United States Patent 3,364,514 FISH TRANSPORTING AND POSITIONING APPARATUS Ernst Eduard Hart], Alfred Albert Dudszus, Reinhold Heinrich Franz, Christoph Friedrich Wilhelm Rethfeldt, Giinther Hubert Reiner Wienert, Rudolf Miike, Franz Andreas Hauptmann, and Giinther Bolze, all of Rostock, Germany, assignors to Institut fiir Schiifbau, Rostock, Germany Continuation of application Ser. No. 426,055, Jan. 18, 1965. This application Mar. 22, 1967, Ser. No. 641,401

12 Claims. (Cl. 17-2) This is a continuing application of applicants prior eopending application, Ser. No. 426,055, filed on Jan. 18, 1965, now abandoned.

The present invention relates to the treatment of fish.

In particular, the present invention relates to a process and apparatus for treating fish subsequent to the catching thereof in preparation for the marketing of the fish.

During recent times it has became customary for fishing vessels to travel to considerable distances in order to catch fish, and these long trips have created various problems. The travel on longer trips of course carries with it an extra cost which is not directly attributable to the cost of the fish.

Furthermore, once the fish are caught it is of course necessary for them to be transported with the vessel. If the fish are simply caught and stored on board ship while they are transported back to a suitable port, then, since approximately only 34% of a fish can be used either for food or for other purposes, and the waste cannot be used except to an extremely small extent for products such as fish meal, it becomes clear that a considerable part of the transportation cost is devoted simply to transporting waste. This problem becomes aggravated on a relatively long voyage. Therefore, in order to make better use of the available tonnage which can be carried on board ship, it is essential to separate the useful from the non-useful part of the catch substantially immediately after the fish are caught. As a result, it becomes essential to treat the fish on board ship in order to use the available tonnage solely for the transportation of useful fish parts which will bring in some sort of financial return.

Besides making better use of the available transportation space on board ship, the treatment of the fish substantially immediately after the catching thereof is of further advantage because it is possible to achieve fish of far better quality by cutting away the waste portions as soon as possible after the fish are caught. Thus, by immediately treating a fish after it is caught so as to separate the waste from the remainder of the fish, the plant which is necessary to keep the fish fresh works only on useful fish parts which can be sold and is not required also to maintain waste in a fresh condition.

Thus, with an arrangement where only the useful parts of the fish are retained and kept fresh, it is possible when reaching port to immediately pack the finished product as soon as the load is transferred from the ship onto land. As a result the edible parts of the fish reach the ultimate consumer in a lesser time, since the time required from the reaching of port until the fish reaches the ultimate consumer is reduced to a minimum, and, as a result, the consumer receives a product of higher quality. Of course, the higher quality product results in higher prices, so that from this standpoint also a better financial result is achieved. At the same time the cost for maintaining a unit of weight of the fish fresh is lower because of time the process and apparatus must be adapted to the relatively rough requirements of handling the fish at sea. These requirements are best fulfilled by providing a mechanical handling of the fish which is as automatic as possible.

However, in order to make the best possible use of the available space and tonnage on board ship, it is necessary to fulfill further requirements. Thus, the fishtreating machinery must be as light as possible while at the same time occupying a minimum amount of space. Up to the present time, the fish treating machinery which has been used on board ship has been the very same machinery which is used on land for treating fish. However since such machinery is designed primarily for use on land, it is far too heavy and occupies far too much space in order to achieve on board ship a treatment of the fish which is as economical as possible.

Of course, various problems are encountered in the use of such machinery. Thus, it is essential to keep a fish moving from one operating station to the next, so that a series of fish are treated rapidly one after the other to achieve a high output. Furthermore, when the fish is cut, for example, so as to remove the head thereof, it is essential to cut the fish in such a way that while the Waste is fully removed at the same time a minimum amount of useful meat is removed with the waste. This requirement of precisely cutting the fish so as to eliminate only the waste and not the useful parts thereof represents a particularly dificult problem because it is necessary to position the fish very accurately while performing cutting operations thereon. After the head is removed it is of course necessary to remove the stomach portions of the fish and to clean the fish. Then it should be fileted. When dealing with a product such as a slippery wet fish, the size of which can change considerably from one fish to the next, considerable problems are encountered in providing the most economical operations which will achieve a maximum amount of useful material while reliably eliminating the waste.

At the present time, known machines for positioning a fish and for performing cutting operations thereon are extremely complex and expensive. Furthermore, the efficiency with which the operations are performed is influenced by the condition of the fish. A freshly caught fish has firm flesh and its outer skin is quite firm, whereas a fish which has beenout of the water for a substantial period of time is soft and slippery. Its skin slides easily with respect to the flesh therebeneath so that the proper treatment of such a fish is far more difficult to carry out.

Of course, carrying out more or less continuous adjustrnents in order to take care of differences between the sizes and conditions of successive fish is an extremely expensive proposition not only from the standpoint of machinery but from also the standpoint of personnel. The different fish are not only of different lengths and different heights, they are also different thicknesses, and it is an extremely difficult matter to treat the fish in such a Way that not only is there a maximum. amount of useful flesh derived from the fish but in addition this flesh is in top condition with a minimum of injury thereto. The pressures applied to the fish by various devices which transport the fish and which hold the fish for the operations thereon tend to reduce the quality of the flesh which is ultimately achieved from the fish. Furthermore, when a fish is held by a device such as a hook, for example, there is an absolute damaging of useful parts of the fish which render the waste portion undesirably great.

It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide a process and apparatus which make it possible to treat a fish very economically almost immediately after it is caught so as to efficiently remove from the fish the waste portions While retaining the useful portions which can be stored on board ship.

A particular object of the present invention is to provide a fish-treating apparartus which will occupy only a relatively small amount of space so that it can be accommodated with case on board ship, while at the same time the weight of the structure of the invention is quite low so as to increase the available tonnage and thus increase the proportion of the available tonnage which can be used for the transportation of saleable fish.

Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide a process and apparatus which enable steps which heretofore have required separate operations and separate structures to be combined into a single operation.

In addition, it is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus which requires a very small amount of maintenance and which eliminates the necessity for personnel who must constantly watch all operations and must constantly carry out adjustments, so that in this way the economy of the entire operation is very greatly increased with the structure of the invention.

Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a process and apparatus which will provide practically no injury to the useful flesh which is retained, so that this flesh of the fish is at peak of its quality as a result of the process and apparatus of the invention.

It is in particular an object of the invention to provide a process and apparatus which will accomplish the above objects in order to achieve a filet which is useful in its entirety, while all the rest of the waste portions can be eliminated from the ship at sea.

A further object of the invention is to provide a process and apparatus which, while requiring a minimum amount of space on board ship and while being of rela tively light weight, nevertheless is capable of achieving a very high output so that a large number of fish can be treated one after the other in a minimum amount of time with the process and apparatus of the invention.

Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus which is rugged enough to withstand relatively rough operating conditions encountered at sea while at the same time continuing to operate reliably over a long period of time.

Primarily, with the structure of the invention, as well as with the process thereof, the head and stomach of a fish are eliminated from the body thereof in a single operation so that thereafter, the fish being properly cleaned, filet portions of the fish can be removed leaving only the spine and rib portions to be eliminated as waste.

The fileting of the fish also takes place in a single operation, and the process and apparatus of the invention provide automatic transportation of the fish, after automatically adjusting the apparatus to the size of the fish, from one station to the next Where the several operations are performed.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings which form part of the application and in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of the apparatus of the invention showing how the various components are arranged so as to treat a fish at various operating stations,

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the sequence and duration of the various operations which take place during one complete cycle;

FIG. 3 is a partly schematic side elevation of the driving structure of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the structure shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an elevation, partly in section, of the structure for transporting the fish from station to station;

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a gripping arm together with a fish-engaging means carried thereby;

FIG. 7 is a partly sectional side view of the structure of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of an air valve of the invention used with the fish-engaging structure;

FIG. 9 is a sectional fragmentary schematic illustration of the structure for controlling the movement of a pair of fish gripping arms of the invention with respect to each other;

FIG. 10 is a sectional elevation showing that part of the structure which controls the movement of a pair of gripping arms with respect to each other;

FIG. 11 is a development of a cam used for the controls of FIGS. 9 and 10;

FIG. 12 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a control valve arrangement for providing alternate suction and pressure at the fishengaging means of the invention;

FIG. 13 is a transverse section of the structure of FIG. 12 taken along line 13-13 of FIG. 12 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 14 is a schematic perspective illustration of one possible embodiment of a structure of the invention for guiding and positioning the fish in preparation for transportation thereof to the various treating stations of the invention;

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary side view of a fish-transporting trough showing teeth which engage the exterior of the fish;

FIG. 16 is a top plan view of the structure of FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is a partly schematic perspective illustration of another embodiment of a structure for guiding and positioning a fish in preparation for transportation thereof to the various operating stations of the invention;

FIG. 18 is a perspective illustration of the structure and process of the invention for simultaneously removing the head and stomach of a fish;

FIG. 19 is a sectional side view of the structure of FIG. 18 illustrating in particular the manner in which the waste portions of the fish are retrieved;

FIG. 20 is an end view of the structure of FIGS. 18 and 19 showing the configuration of the cutting edges of the blades;

FIG. 21 is a view similar to FIG. 20 but showing a subsequent part of the operating cycle, FIG. 21 illustrating in particular how the waste is eliminated;

FIG. 22 is a side elevation of the fileting structure of the invention;

FIG. 23 is an end view of the structure of FIG. 22 as seen from the left of FIG. 22;

FIG. 24 illustrates the process and apparatus for fileting, the illustration being shown in a side elevation in FIG. 24;

FIG. 25 is a transverse view of the structure of FIG. 24 showing the manner in which the filtering blades cut through the flesh; and

FIG. 26 illustrates the separating of the fileted fish portions from the bone-containing parts which remain and which are thereafter eliminated as waste.

General layout FIG. 1 illustrates the entire organization of the process and apparatus of the invention. Various details such as those of the supporting structure, the driving structure, as well as the controlling structure are not shown in FIG. 1. Those details which are essential for an understanding of the invention will be described below in connection with the remaining figures.

The machine of the invention includes a main drive shaft 1 which is flanged between a pair of coaxial supporting shafts which are supported for rotation in s itable bearings, as will be apparent from the description below. These coaxial supporting shafts which are respectively connected to the ends of the main shaft 1 are not shown in FIG. 1, but they serve to support the shaft 1 for rotary movement. In the illustrated example, the shaft 1 carries four pairs of fish-gripping arm means 2,

each pair of arms 2 having distant from the main shaft 1 free ends which respectively carry fish-engaging means in the form of suction housings 3 which serve to engage and hold the fish so as to transport the fish 6 from one operating station to the next.

In order for the pair of gripping arms 2 to engage a fish with the pair of fish engaging means 3 at the initial station I, it is necessary for the pair of gripping arms 2 to be spread initially apart from each other and then to approach each other with the fish situated between the K pair of fish-engaging means 3, and for this purpose the structure includes a cam 4 which controls the arms 2 as they approach the station I, after leaving the operating station IV, so that the arms will first spread apart from each other and then approach each other in order to grip a fish for transporting the latter to the subsequent operating stations described below. This cam 4 is supported for rotary movement about the axis of the shaft 1, and in a tube 5 there is situated a suitable adjusting structure which is connected with the cam 4 in a manner described below so as to properly adjust the latter angularly in synchronism with the movement of the other components.

During the fileting operation at station IV, the body of the fish, which has previously been beheaded and cleaned, is placed against a supporting block 7, with the fish in a more or less inverted position as shown at the upper central portion of FIG. 1. In this position the fileting of the fish takes place in a manner described in great detail below. At this time, which is to say during approach of the fish 6 onto the block 7, it is necessary for the gripping arms 2 to shorten themselves, and the shortening of the total length of these gripping arms is brought about by a cam 8 shown in FIG. 1 and also described in greater detail below.

The fish are initially received in buckets 10 of a transporting band 9. Each bucket 10 is provided at one end with a stop wall 11 engaged by the head of the fish. The underside of the fish leads the remainder thereof and points forwardly in the direction in which the fish is transported by the endless band 9 which is provided with the buckets 10. This transporting band 9 is preferably an endless band guided over suitable pulleys and driven in any suitable way such as that described below. The result of the transportation of a fish in this way is that it is capable of falling at one end of the endless band into a transporting trough 12 which will receive the fish 6 in the manner shown in dotted lines at the left of FIG. 1, so that the fish is supported in an upright position with its underside engaging the bottom of the trough and with the head of the fish facing forwardly in the direction in which the fish is transported.

The transporting trough 12 is pivotally connected at its rear end by a pivot 14, to a free end of a lever 13 which is supported for turning movement by a stationary pivot 15 situated at the end of the lever 13 distant from the trough 12. A reciprocating rod 16 is pivotally connected to the lever 13 intermediate the ends of the latter so as to turn the lever 13 back and forth about the pivot 15 in the manner indicated in FIG. 1. The drive for reciprocating the rod 16 is described below. The result of this operation is that the fish is transported by the trough 12 onto a second trough 17 which slidably receives the trough 12 and is capable of having its elevation adjusted so as to determine in this way the elevation of the fish when it is gripped by a pair of gripping arms 2. The transporting trough 12 advances the fish onto the transporting trough of guide trough 17 down which the fish glides to the operating station 1.

During its movement to the bottom end of the guide trough 17, the fish 6 passes between a stationary plate 18, fixed to one side edge of the trough 17 and extending upwardly therefrom, and a turnable feeling lever 19 situated at the other side of the trough and responding to the passage of the fish between the stationary plate 18 and the turnable lever 19 for sensing the thickness of the fish. Thus, the lever 19 forms a feeling means for sensing the maximum thickness of the fish, and in accordance with this maximum thickness of the fish the lever means 19 adjusts a structure described below for determining the longitudinal and elevational position of the fish, this adjusting structure acting on a head-engaging means 20 which engages the head of the fish and on the trough 17 for determining the elevation of the latter so as to determine also in this way the elevation of the fish. Subsequent to passage through the thickness sensing structure, the fish passes through a pair of guide levers 22 which cooperate in a manner described below to center the fish so that these levers 22 guide the fish properly toward the station I. These guiding levers 22 also serve to prevent any rearward sliding of the fish.

Situated over the fish-guiding trough 17 is an elongated guide 23 which engages the rear or back fins of the fish to participate in the guiding thereof. This backfin guide 23 is supported for turning movement about a stationary pivot 2d and an unillustrated torsion spring presses on the guide 23 so that the latter engages the fish 6 so as to properly guide the latter.

The fish 6 when reaching the operating station I is in a position of readiness to be engaged between the pair of fish-engaging means 3 situated at the free ends of a pair of fish-gripping arms 2. Through the controls derived from the structure in the tube 5, the cam 4 will control the pair of arms 2 in such a way that they will approach each other to place the pair of opposed fish-engaging means 3 in engagement with the fish 6 at the opposite sides thereof. When the pair of fish-engaging means 3 press against the exterior side surfaces of the fish 6 which is at the position I the hollow interiors of the pair of fish-engaging means 3 are evacuated by a structure de scribed below for automatically applying a vacuum to the hollow interiors of the structures 3. Also, a structure which is described in greater detail below now tilts the head-engaging means 20 downwardly so as to clear the path of movement for the fish 6 by the pair of gripping arms 2 to the operating station II where the head and stomach portions of the fish are removed in a single operation, in accordance with the invention.

Located at the operating station II are a pair of rotary blade means 25 and 26 which simultaneously turn in opposite directions through a single revolution during a complete cycle of operations at the station II. For this purpose this pair of blade means 25 and 26 are respectively driven by a pair of bevel gears 27 which are rotated in opposite directions by a single bevel driving gear 29. The pair of gears 27 are supported by a. suitable bracket 28 which is carried by a stationary part of the machine. The counter-rotating blades 25 and 26 are driven from the main drive means described below. After these blades turn through a single revolution the head and stomach portions of the fish have been removed from the body thereof which is still held by the pair of fish-engaging means 3, and the head and stomach portions which are cut away are received in a pocket 30 which is fixed to the rotary blade 26 and which deposits the waste portions of the fish onto an unillustrated transporting device which carries away these head and stomach portions, which are only waste. The details of this structure at operating station II is described in greater detail below. At the end of the operations at station II, the arms 2 are again moved, and they reach the station III shown at the upper right portion of FIG. 1.

At the station III the fish 6 is cleaned. Thus, there is provided at this station a rotary shaft 34 which is continually driven and which carries a brush 31. The rotary brush assembly is supported by a lever which is turnable about a stationary pin 32 and which is urged downwardly by the spring 33, so that in this way the brush bristles are applied to the hollow stomach cavity of the fish so as to efiiciently clean the latter. The cleaned fish is then transported by the pair of gripping arms 2 from the operating station III to the operating station IV.

On the way from station III to station IV, the total length of each gripping arm 2 is shortened, and this shortening is brought about by engagement of the arms 2 with the earn 8, the arms 2 respectively carrying slide members 35 which engage and slide along the cam 8 for the purpose of reducing the length of the arms 2-. Just before reaching the position IV the slide members 35 move beyond the ends of the cam 8, with the result that the fish 6 which is carried by the arms 2 is now applied against a supporting block 7, and at station IV the fileting operations take place.

The fileting blades 36, which are described in greater detail below, are positioned in readiness to carry out a fileting operation While turning through one revolution, and the fileting blades are driven by a shaft 37, which is supported for rotation and driven in a manner described below. The support block 7 is carried by a plate 38 which is situated between the pair of rotary blades 36. Thus, during the rotation of the fileting blades 36, the filet portions of the fish are removed therefrom in a single operation, leaving at the block '7 the spine and rib portions which are mostly bones. The fileted fish portions are still held by the suction in the interior of the fishengaging means 3 against the latter, and the arms 2 are then spread apart from each other by the cam 4 so as to position the fish-engaging means 3 at a location proper for dropping the fileted fish portions therefrom. The cam 4 is guided by the structure in the tube 5 in proper synchronism so that the arms 2 will be controlled during movement from the station IV to the station I, so as to properly engage another fish. Once the pair of fishengaging means 3 with the filets carried thereby are separated from the remainder of the fish which remains at the block 7, air under pressure is applied to the pair of fishengaging means so as to cause them to drop the filets which are received in a suitable chute 39 shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1. and the filets slide down this chute to a location where they are stored during return of the ship to port.

The sequence and synchronizing of the various operations are illustrated diagramatically in FIG. 2. Thus, as may be seen from the lower part of FIG. 2, the cycle of operations on one fish includes substantially equal times at the several operating stations as well as during transportation of the fish from one operating station to the next. As may be seen from FIG. 2 at operating station I, the fish is received between the arms 2, as designated by the lowermost indication in FIG. 2. Also, as shown by the uppermost indication in FIG. 2, the arms 2 are spread apart from each other during this first set of operations which take place at station I, the arms being located close enough to each other to grip the fish just before the end of the operations at station I, as is apparent from the upper left portion of the diagram of FIG. 2. Moreover, as is apparent from the upper right portion of FIG. 2, just before the end of the operations at station IV, the arms 2 are again moved apart from each other, and they remain apart from each other, during the turning of each pair of arms 2 from station IV to station I. In other words, the heavy line portions at the top of the diagram of FIG. 2 indicate the time during each operating cycle when the arms 2 are apart from each other, while during the remainder of each operating cycle the arms 2 are relatively close to each other placing the pair of fishengaging means in an engagement with the fish so that the latter is carried by the fish-gripping structure of the inven tion at this time.

The second indication from the top of FIG. 2 indicates that the filets are released during approximately a central portion of the transportation of the arms 2 from station IV to station I, and simultaneously with the fish release air pressure is applied to the pair of fish-engaging means, which accounts for the alignment of the second and third operations indicated in the diagram of FIG. 2.

Referring to the fourth operation from the top of 0 FIG. 2, namely the time of each cycle during which suction is applied, it is clear that suction is applied to the pair of fish-engaging means during almost the entire operating cycle from just before the end of the operations at station I until shortly after the arms 2 sta1t to move from station IV to station 1.

Referring now to the next three operations, indicated in FIG. 2 beneath the suction operation, it will be seen that the fileting takes place at station IV, the cleaning takes place at station III, and the beheading, as well as removal of the stomach at the same time, takes place at operating station II. The lowermost indication at the lower left of FIG. 1 indicates that the operations in connection with receiving of the fish by the pair of fish-holding arms 2 takes place during the cycle at operation station I. The transporting of the fish, of course, takes place, as shown by the second indication from the bottom of FIG. 2, during those parts of the cycle which are situated between the operations taking place at the stations IIV. Thus, FIG. 2 gives an over-all picture of the various operations and the manner in which they are synchronized with respect to each other.

Driving structure FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the principal components of the drive assembly of the invention which serves to drive the various parts of the apparatus as described below. An accurate illustration of the transmission ratios is however not provided, for the sake of clarity.

A driving motor 44) driven from any suitable source of electric power drives through the step-down transmission 41 a pair of meshing bevel gears 42 and 43. A gear 44 (FIG. 4) is fixed coaxially to the gear 43 for rotation therewith and drives an endless chain 45 which transmits the rotation of the gear or sprocket wheel 4-4 to the sprocket Wheel 46 which is fixed to a drive shaft 47.

This drive shaft 47 fixedly carries structure for driving a Maltese cross driving assembly of the invention. The Maltese cross drive of the invention includes a pair of parallel rigid plates 48 which are fixed to the shaft 47 for rotation therewith and which are connected to a pair of drive pins 49 which extend between and are fixed to the diametrically opposed tip portions of the plates 48 so as to transmit a drive from the latter to a pair of Maltese crosses as described below. In order to improve the wear of the structure, the pair of motion-transmitting pins 49 can pass through freely turnable sleeves. Displaced by angles of 90 degrees between the pair of diametrically opposed pins 49 are a pair of curved holding plates 5% which extend between and are fixed to the plates 49 and which serve in a manner described below to alternately hold the pair of Maltese crosses stationary. A sprocket wheel 51 is fixed to the shaft 47 for rotation therewith and drives a chain 52 which serves to transmit the drive to a rotary sprocket wheel 53 which is fixed to a shaft 54 which is thus driven continuously.

A pair of identical Maltese crosses 55 and 56 which have parallel axes, respectively, are situated at such a distance from each other with respect to the Maltese cross drive 48-5tl that these Maltese crosses will alternately be driven through angles of 90 degrees. Thus, it will be seen from FIG. 3 in particular that each of the Maltese crosses 55 and 56 is provided with four radial slots displaced from each other by 90 degrees and adapted successively to receive one of the drive pins 49 during rotation of the pair of plates 48 together with the shaft 47. As may be seen particularly from FIG. 4, the pair of Maltese crosses are not in a common plane. Thus, the Maltese cross 55 which is carried by the shaft is situated in a plane which is spaced from and parallel to the plane which receives the Maltese cross 56 which is carried by the shaft 57.

Assuming now that the Maltese cross drive 48-50 turns in a clockwise direction, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 3, then the right pin 45 of the FIG. 3 will enter into the upwardly directed slot of the Maltese cross 56 while the left pin has just left the upwardly directed slot of the Maltese cross 55. The result is that the Maltese cross 56 will now be turned during the next quarter of a revolution of the shaft 47 in a counterclockwise direction, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 3. At this time the lower curved holding plate 50 of FIG. 3 moves along an arcuate peripheral portion which is situated between the upper and right slots of the Maltese cross 55, so that the lower holding plate 50 of FIG. 3 prevents rotation of the Maltese cross 55 at this time. However, when the plates 48 have turned through 90 degrees in a clockwise direction beyond the position shown in FIG. 3, the upper slot of the Maltese cross 56 will now occupy the position occupied by the left hand slot of the Maltese cross 56 of FIG. 3. The right pin 49 will now enter into the right hand slot of the Maltese cross 55 of FIG. 3 while the upper holding plate 50 will now move along an arcuate edge of the Maltese cross 56 to maintain the latter stationary while, during the continued rotation of the shaft 47, the right pin 49 which is now in the right slot of the Maltese cross 55 will turn the latter in a counterclockwise direction, as indicated by the arrow. In this way the pair of Maltese crosses are alternately held stationary and turned through increments of 90 degrees.

The shaft 57 which carries the Maltese cross 56 also fixedly carries a sprocket wheel 58 which meshes with an endless chain 59 which transmits the drive to a sprocket 60 which is fixed to the rotary shaft 61. This shaft 61, which appears at the lower left of FIG. 3, fixedly carries a crank disc 62 which is pivotally connected with the end of the reciprocating rod 16 which is distant from the lever 13 shown in FIG. 1, so that in this way the reciprocation of the fish-transporting trough 12 is carried out.

The shaft 80 which carries the Maltese cross 55 also fixedly carries a sprocket wheel 63 which drives a chain 64 which transmits the drive to a sprocket wheel 65 fixedly carried by a rotary shaft 66 which through the pair of bevel gears 67 drives the shaft 170 which serves to drive the endless conveyer band 9.

The shaft 57, which carries the Maltese cross 56, fixedly carries a sprocket wheel 68 which drives through the endless chain 69 a sprocket Wheel 71 fixed on a shaft 70. The shaft 70 drives the bevel gear 29 which meshes with the pair of bevel gears 27 for driving the rotary blade 25 and the rotary blade 26, respectively, in opposed directions of rotation in a manner described below and with the synchronism determined by the Maltese cross 56.

The sprocket wheel 72, which is fixed to the shaft 57,

drives, through the endless chain 73, the sprocket wheel 75 which is fixed to the shaft 74 which is'an integral extension of the shaft 37 which drives the pair of fileting blades 36, also with a synchronization determined by the Maltese cross 56.

The motor 40 (FIG. 3) itself directly drives a pair of meshing bevel gears 76 which through a non-illustrated sprocket gear serve to drive an endless chain 77 which transmits the drive to a sprocket wheel 78 fixed to a shaft 79. This shaft 79 is an integral extension of the shaft 34 and serves to drive the rotary brush 31 for cleaning the fish at station III.

Fish carrying and transporting structure FIGS. -7 illustrate the essential components of the structure for carrying and transporting the fish 6 from one operating station to the next. The main shaft 1 which is driven from the Maltese cross 55 is fixedly connected with mounting portions 81 which serve to carry the elements 82. As is apparent from FIG. 1, there are in the illustrated example four pairs of gripping arms 2 uniformly distributed about the shaft 1. Each gripping arm 2 includes a tubular member 82 which telescopically receives an elongated tubular member 83. These members extend perpendicularly to the shaft 1. Each of the tubular members 82 is connected by a pivot pin 84 to the mounting portion 81.

As is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the tubular portion 83 of each arm 2 is axially slidable within the tubular portion 82. Each tubular portion 83 has a portion 85 of enlarged diameter received within the tubular portion 82. Each tubular portion 82 threadedly carries at its outer free end a nut 86 which is threaded into the tubular portion 82 and extends over the shoulder formed by the free end of the enlarged diameter portion 85 of tubular member 83, so that the nut 86 limits the movement of the tubular member 83 outwardly of the tubular member 82. The portion 85 of each tubular member 83 is formed at its end which is within the tubular member 82 with a pair of diametrically opposed notches extending axially from the free end of the portion 85, and these notches slidably receive axially extending legs of a substantially U-shaped member 88 which is fixed to the interior of the member 82 and against which an end of the spring 87 bears, so that in this way the members 83 cannot turn with respect to the member 82 but can only move axially with respect thereto.

The outer end of each tubular portion 83 fixedly carries a bearing component 89 and a bearing component 90 which together with the bearing component 89 forms a bearing for the fish engaging means 3. These bearing components 89 and 90 serves to hold a sleeve 92 which fixedly carries a bearing pin 91. The bearing pin 91 extends through an opening of a holding member 93, and the bearing pin 91 fixedly carries a collar 94 situated directly over the holding member 93. A spring 95 rests on the collar 94 and surrounds the pin 91. A nut 96 is threaded onto the pin 91 and presses a washer 97 against a shoulder or other projection of the pin 91. In this way the washer 97 is situated at a predetermined distance from the collar 94 and in the space between the washer 97 and the collar 94 is situated the spring 95. The free ends of this spring respectively bear against a pin 98, which is fixed to and projects from the turnable holding member 93 and a pin 99 which is fixed to the collar 94, so that in this way the spring 95 serves to urge the holding member 93 to a predetermined angular position with respect to the pin 91.

A slide member 100 is fixed to the outer free end of the bearing member 89.

The fish-engaging means 3 is fixed with the holding member 93. In order to adapt itself to the configuration of the fish, the fish-engaging means 3 is provided with an elastic yieldable lip 101 made of soft rubber, for example. In addition, the inner wall 102 of the fish-engaging means 3 is formed with ribs or the like so as to have a relatively high coefficient of friction. In this way slipping of the fish 6 after it is engaged by the fish-engaging means 3 is reliably avoided. The interior of the fish-engaging means 3 is either evacuated by applying suction thereto or is provided with air under pressure, for purposes referred to above, and in order to alternately provide the interior of thefish-engaging means 3 with suction or with pressure during each cycle a valve means 103 is provided. The valve means 103 communicates with the conduit 104 which has the position shown in FIG. 7 so that through this conduit 104 suction or air under pressure may be applied to the interior of the fish-engaging means 3.

The details of the valve means 103 of the invention are illustrated in FIG. 8.

As is apparent from FIGS. 6-8, the fish-engaging means 3 has a wall through which a tubular member 105 of the valve means 103 passes, the relatively tight mounting of the tubular member 105 on this wall being shown most clearly in FIG. 8. A tube 106 serves to connect the valve means with a conduit through which suction or pressure are applied, and this tube 106 has a hollow annular portion received between a pair of sealing rings 107 which respectively surround a hollow tubular member 108 which is threaded onto the tube 105 and which has a closed outer end, this member 108 serving to clamp the member 106 between the sealing rings 107 as well as to press the latter against the member 106 and to pull the larger diameter portion of the tubular member 105 against the Wall of the fish-engaging means 3, as shown in FIG. 8. Thus, through the threaded connection of the tubular member 108 with the member 105 the parts shown in FIG. 8 to the left of the wall of the fish-engaging means 3 are maintained assembled with each other. The tubular member 108 is formed with transverse bores passing through its wall so that in this way the interior of member 106 will communicate through the member 108 with the interior of the tubular member 105.

On the side of the wall of the fish-engaging means 3 which is opposite from the member 108, the tubular member 105 has an outwardly directed flange 109 which is formed at its periphery with bores 110 extending parallel to the axial bore of the tubular member 105 and of course spaced from the tubular member 105. A hollow valve cap 103 has an inner cylindrical surface slidably engaging the exterior cylindrical surface of the flange 109 so that the cap 103 is axially slidable along the tubular member 105, and at its inner end this cap 103 has an inwardly directed flange whose inner cylindrical surface slidably engages the exterior cylindrical surface of the tubular member 105. This inwardly directed flange of the cap 103 carries a sealing ring 111 which in the illustrated position engages the openings 110 so as to close the latter. In addition it will be noted that the cap 103 itself is formed in its side wall with a plurality of openings 112 which are uniformly distributed about the member 103 and which in the illustrated closed position of the valve, shown in FIG. 8, are closed by the exterior surface of the flange 109. A plurality of screws 113 serve to fix to the free end of the tubular member 105 a spacer member 114 provided with air passages 116 through which the bores 110 communicate with the interior of the tubular member 105. This spacer member 104 is formed at its face which is directed away from the tubular member 105 with a circular recess receiving one end of a coil spring 115 which is compressed between the spacer member 114 and the end wall 118 of the cap 103, this end Wall 118 being fluid-tightly threaded into the cylindrical portion of the cap 103 and having in its interior a guide pin 117 for extending into the coil spring 115 so as to guide the latter. At its exterior the end wall 118 of the cylindrical cap 103 is formed with a pair of bores 119 for receiving the pins of a suitable wrench used for assembly and disassembly the components of the valve means.

When the fish-engaging means 3 engages a fish, the exterior surface of the fish engages the end wall 118 of the cap 103 to depress the latter in opposition to'the spring 115 inwardly along the tubular member 105. Thus, on the one hand, the sealing ring 111 is displaced away from the bores 110 and, on the other hand, the bores 112 are displaced from the flange 109 so as to be uncovered, and in this way the hollow interior of the fish-engaging means 3 communicates through the bores 112 and 11 as well as through the passages 116 of the spacer member 114 with the tubular interior of the member 105, so that when vacuum or pressure are respectively applied to the tubular member 106, this vacuum or pressure will also be applied to the interior of the fish-engaging means 3. It is to be noted that if a vacuum is applied through the tubular member 106, then the communication of this vacuum with the space surrounding the cap 103 depends upon the movement of the latter in opposition to the spring 115 to a position uncovering the openings 110 and 112 as described above. On the other hand, when air under pressure is supplied to the tubular member 106, this air under pressure will itself serve to displace the sealing ring 111 away from the openings 110 so that the air under pressure is capable of automatically opening the valve 12 irrespective of whether an outside force acts on the cap 103 to displace the latter from the closed position to which it is urged by the spring 115. A control structure described below determines whether the fish-engaging means 3 is supplied with air under pressure or is subjected to a vacuum.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a pair of toothed sectors 120 are respectively fixed to the members 32 of each pair of arm means 2, and this pair of toothed sectors 120 are in mesh with each other so that the turning movement of one of a pair of arms 2 about its axis 84 will necessarily result in equal and opposite turning of the other of the pair of arms 2 about its own axis 84. A spring 121 extends between and is connected at its ends to the members 82 of each pair of arm means 2, so as to pull the pair of arm means toward each other. One of the members 82 of each pair of arm means 2, namely the right one shown in FIG. 5, carries a control roller 122 which is mounted on a suitable bracket 123 carried by the member 82. During turning of each pair of arm means 2 from the operating position IV to the operating station I, it is this control roller 122 which rides along the cam 4. The function of this cam 4 is explained in greater detail below. The controls for spreading the pair of arms of each pair of arm means 2 apart from each other as well as for controlling their movement toward each other is illustrated in FIGS. 9-11.

Referring to FIG. 9, it will be seen that a rotary shaft 124 is flanged to the main shaft 1 so as to be coaxial therewith and so as to support the latter for rotation, a similar rotary shaft being located at the end of the shaft 1 opposite from that shown in FIG. 9. A pair of ball bearings 125 are carried by a bearing housing 126 and serve to support the support shaft 124, and of course the main shaft 1 coaxially coupled thereto, for rotary movement. The bearing housing 126 is fixedly carried by a stationary wall 127 of the supporting framework of the machine. The cam 4 is carried by a cam support 128 which surrounds the bearing housing 126 and which is supported for turning movement by a pair of ball bearings 129 which are carried by the housing 126 at its exterior. The cam 4 is fixedly mounted on the cam support 128. The carrier 123 for the cam follower roller 122, which rides along the cam 4, is shown also in FIG. 9, and FIG. 11 shows a developed view of the earn 4.

The movement of the arms of each pair of arms 2 toward and away from each other therefore depends upon the curvature of the cam 4 as illustrated in FIG. 11. As is shown most clearly in FIG. 10, a lock member 130 is fixedly carried by the cam carrier 128. A locking pawl 131 which cooperates with the lock member 130 is pivotally carried by a bracket which is fixed to the supporting wall 127, and a spring acts on the pawl 131 to urge it in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 10. The rotary supporting shaft 124 carries a cam 143 which is engaged by a cam follower roller 133 turnable carried by an arm of the pawl 131 so that the cam 14-3 controls the lock ng and unlocking of the carrier 128.

The elongated tubular support 5 is fixedly carried by the wall 127. The ends of the tubular support 5 carry a pair of bearings 134 and 135, respectively, which support for longitudinal sliding movement an elongated control bar 136, The cam carrier 128 also fixedly carries a member 137 which is pivotally connected with one end of the control bar 136. The opposite end of the control bar 136 carries a cam follower roller 138 which engages a earn 139 Which is fixed to the shaft 74 which also is fixed with the fileting blades to rotate the latter. In the interior of the tube 5 the bar 136 fixedly carries a collar 140 against which one end of a coil spring 141 bears, this spring being coiled about the bar 136 nad hearing at its other end against the bearing 134 which guides the bar 136.

Assuming now that a pair of arms 2 are in the location where the operating station IV is situated, and this is the position illustrated in FIG. 10, then the remaining pairs of arms 2 are respectively situated at the operation stations I, II and III. These remaining pairs of arms are not illustrated in FIG. 10 for the sake of clarity. Assuming now that the filet blade shaft 74 is driven by the Maltese cross 56 and thus turns through 360 degrees in a clockwise direction, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 10, then the following operations take place:

After the cam 139 has turned for approximately 270 degrees the cam follower roller 138 is engaged by the camming portion of the cam 139, with the result that the bar 136 is depressed downwardly through a distance sufficient to cause the pawl 131 to engage the lock member 130. The result is that the cam 4 has been turned so that the point 4 thereof has been shifted to the location of the point 5 indicated in FIGS. and 11, with the result that the spreading of the pair of arms 2, at operating station IV, apart from each other has been initiated. At the same time the pair of arms which are situated at operating station I have been acted upon by shifting of the point 1 of the cam 4 into the position occupied previously by the point 2 thereof, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, with the result that at the operating station I the pair of arms 2 start to approach each other simultaneously with the spreading apart of the pair of arms at the operating station IV.

During the next following rotation of the shaft 1 through 90 degrees the pair of arms at the operating station IV turn toward the operating station I. During this operation this latter pair of arms will of course be spread further apart from each other by rolling of the roller 122 along the cam 4 from the point 4 thereof to the point 3 shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. By operation of the cam 143, which is fixed to the shaft 124 and therefore operates in synchronism with the pair of arms 2, the bar 136 is unlocked, and the spring 141 now returns the control bar 136 to its initial position so as to return earn 4 to its initial position. As the pair of arms 2 arrive at the operating station I the above operations are repeated so that these arms 2 move toward each other through a distance sufiicient to grip the new fish which is at the operating station I, and of course operations at station IV are re peated for the next pair of arms which become situated at the operating station IV.

Control valve assembly FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate the control valve assembly for controlling the application of pressure and suction to the fish-gripping means 3.

As is shown in FIG. 12, the end of the main shaft 1, which is opposite from that shown in FIG. 9, is coaxially coupled, by flanges 144, to a second rotary supporting shaft 145. This shaft 145 is supported for rotation by a pair of ball bearings 146 supported in a bearing housing 147. By unillustrated sealing rings the ball bearings 146 are protected from spray water. The bearing housing 147 has an exterior convexly curved profile which is received in a bearing member 148. The convexly curved exterior surface of the bearing housing 147 is formed with a pair of diametrically opposed grooves 149 which respectively receive pins 150 carried by the bearing support 148, so that in this way a limited guided turning of the bearing housing 147 with respect to the support 148 is possible.

An air guiding member 151 is supported on the bearing housing 147 for axial movement, and a key 152, fixed to the bearing housing 147 at a tubular extension thereof, engages in an axial keyway of the annular air guide 151 to prevent turning of the latter with respect to the support 147. The air guide 151 is threadedly connected with a fitting 153 which communicates with a source of suction, such as a suitable vacuum pump, while the diametrically opposed part of the air guide 151 is threadedly connected with a fitting 154 which is in communication with a source of air under pressure, such as a suitable compressor. An arcuate suction passage or groove 155 is formed in the flat right face of air guide 151, as viewed in FIG. 12, and communicates through a bore 156 thereof with the fitting 153. In addition, this same face of air guide 151 is formed with an arcuate air pressure groove 157 which communicates through a bore 158 with the fitting 154 of the air under pressure.

The air guide 151 forms a stationary valve member which has at its right end, as viewed in FIG. 12, a fiat face formed with the grooves and 157 and slidably engaged by and cooperating with a rotary valve member 159, fixed to the shaft 145 for rotation therewith. Pairs of fittings 160, respectively corresponding to the pairs of arms 2, are threadedly carried by the rotary valve member 159 at its outer periphery, and these pairs of fittings 160 respectively communicate with the tubular extensions 161 which are connected to hoses which respectively extend to the valves of the pairs of fish-engaging means 3 which are respectively carried by the pairs of arms 2. The rotary valve member 159 is formed with bores which respectively communicate with the fittings 160 for supplying suction or air pressure thereto, and these bores of the valve 159 are also distributed in the same way as the operating stations I-IV.

The manner in which these bores extend is apparent from FIG. 12. Thus, an inner axial bore 164 of the member 159 communicates through a radial bore 163 with an outer axial bore 162 which directly communicates with the fittings 160, and the bores 162164 are located in a common radial plane in which the pair of fittings 160 communicating therewith are also located. Moreover, as is apparent from FIG. 13, the passage 155 for the suction is in the form of an arc of a circle whose center is in the axis of the shaft 145, and the same is true of the passage 157 for the air pressure. However, it is to be noted that the arcuate groove 157 is located along a circle whose radius is greater than that along which the groove 155 is located. These grooves are of course covered by the flat face of the rotary valve member 159 which engages the flat face of the stationary valve member 151. Furthermore, the radial distance of the axial bore 164 from the shaft 145 is equal to the radial distance of the groove 155 from the shaft 145, while the radial distance of the bore 162 from the axis of the shaft 145 is equal to the radial distance of the groove 157 from this axis. Moreover, as is apparent from FIG. 13, the grooves 155 and 157 are angularly offset so that they are in a substantially non-overlapping relationship. Therefore, since the pair of axial bores 162 and 164 which communicate with each other through the radial bore 163 located therewith in a common radial plane, when the inner bore 164 communicates with the groove 155 the outer bore 162 is closed while when this latter bore 162 communicates with the groove 157 the bore 164 is closed, and thus, during each revolution, for a relatively major part of the revolution suction will be applied through the groove 155 and the bore 164 while during a relatively small part of each revolution air pressure will be applied through the groove 157 and the bore 162.

In order to provide a good seal between the stationary member 151 and the rotary member 159, several sealing rings 165 are included in the assembly, as shown most clearly in FIG. 12. In addition, a sealing sleeve 166 which is fixed coaxially to the stationary member 151 extends into an annular groove formed in the rotary member 159 and engages a surface of this groove to provide a further guarantee of fluid-tight cooperation between the stationary and rotary valve members. A further improvement of this seal is achieved by providing the springs 167 which urge the stationary member 151 into engagement with the rotary member 159. The several springs 167 are uniformly distributed about the member 151 in a groove thereof and press against a ring 168 which is axially movable in this groove, this ring 168 being engaged by a rotary adjusting member 169 which is threaded onto an exterior threaded portion of the bearing housing 147, so that the threaded ring 169 can be turned to 

1. IN A FISH-POSITIONING APPARATUS, ELONGATED TROUGH MEANS FOR GUIDING A FISH FOR LONGITUDINAL MOVEMENT WITH ITS HEAD SITUATED IN ADVANCE OF ITS TAIL, SUPPORT MEANS SUPPORTING SAID TROUGH MEANS FOR ADJUSTABLE ELEVATIONAL MOVEMENT, HEAD-ENGAGING MEANS LOCATED IN THE PATH OF MOVEMENT OF THE FISH ALONG SAID TROUGH MEANS FOR ENGAGING THE HEAD OF THE FISH TO DETERMINE THE LONGITUDINAL POSITION THEREOF, CAM MEANS CARRIED BY SAID TROUGH MEANS AT ITS UNDERSIDE FOR PARTICIPATING IN ADJUSTMENT OF THE ELEVATION OF SAID TROUGH MEANS, AND ADJUSTING MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTED BOTH TO SAID HEAT-ENGAGING MEANS TO SAID CAM MEANS FOR ADJUSTING SAID HEAD-ENGAGING MEANS ACCORDING TO THE LENGTH OF THE FISH AND FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY ACTUATING SAID CAM MEANS FOR ADJUSTING THE ELEVATION OF SAID TROUGH MEANS ACCORDING TO THE SIZE OF THE FISH FROM ITS TOP-SIDE TO ITS UNDERSIDE. 